Pat Metheny Group - Offramp (1982)

Note: this release was originally purchased as a LP, later replaced by a CD.

I was just discovering jazz in 1982 so when I saw this album won a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance, I thought I'd check it out. I was completely unprepared for the sonic landscapes put together by Metheny and his longtime keyboardist/writing partner, Lyle Mays. As a result, my LP was played only a handful of times. While there is some great improv work here, the musicians were more interested in sounds and grooves rather than melodies in the traditional sense. At 16, I wanted something I could hum along to, and this wasn't it. I wasn't ready for Metheny until late 1984/early 1985, but by then this album had already left my collection.

Reviews/ratings:

• Musician: "a worthy addition to the splendid Metheny catalog"
• Stereo Review: "should capture a deservedly large audience"
• Downbeat (★★★★): "Metheny here conspires to exit his own road to glory, change course slightly, then establish new directions that may ultimately yield continued accolades."
• Rolling Stone (★★½ ): "a letdown"
• The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide (1999): ★★★★
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★★★
• The Penguin Guide to Jazz (5th ed., 2000): ★★½

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard Top 200: #50
• Billboard Jazz: #1
• Billboard R&B: #43
• CashBox: #45
• CashBox Jazz: #1
• Rolling Stone: #18
• Radio & Records Jazz Radio National Airplay: #1

Tracks:  Track 2, Are You Going With Me?, is the best track on the album and one Metheny continues to play in concert. Also good are Au Lait, Eighteen, and James.  I usually skip the cacophonous title track.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD:  This album was one of 11 that I got for a penny from Columbia House in early 1983. After some months had passed with very few listenings, I planned on selling my LP to the used record store in Houston (Record Exchange on Westheimer). On our way to the store, my friends and I stopped at Westwood Mall to catch a showing of Return Of The Jedi. By the time we returned to the car, this album along with a few others had melted into a hot, sticky pool of black vinyl.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Steve Reich - Different Trains, Electric Counterpoint (1989)
First Circle (1984)